pn 807 pollution probs in atl

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than a follicle of human hair and are emitted from a variety of sources, including all that contributes to smog, as

well as aerosols, chemicals, burning wood and ash, and metals.

The good news: Georgia’s push toward cleaner air has led to an improvement in ozone reduction, and for the

first time, Fulton County dropped out of the top 25 most ozone polluted counties in the nation. The bad news:

Particle pollution is increasing, and is the most dangerous and most deadly outdoor pollutants, says the American

Lung Association. Atlanta currently ranks 7th in the nation for worst particle pollution, and Fulton County is 10th

on the year-round particle pollution list. Neighboring communities remain on the “non-attainment” list, failing

to meet federal air quality standards for ground-level ozone and/or particle pollution, including Cherokee, Cobb,

DeKalb, Forsyth and Gwinnett.

“We are certainly a region that has its air quality challenges, no doubt about it,” said Kevin Green, executivedirector of the Clean Air Campaign, the Atlanta-based organization working to reduce air quality pollutants in the

state of Georgia. “We have two challenges in terms of air pollution. Ozone, since it is tied so much to hot weather,

is generally seasonal. Ozone season in Atlanta is May through September. Particle pollution is generally year round.

And while we meet the short-term particle pollution standard, we don’t meet the annual particle standard. Last

year we had 30 violations of air quality standards; this year, by mid-June, we’ve already had nine violations only a

month into summer. The hottest summer months, when air quality is the worst, are still ahead of us.”

It’s no surprise Atlanta’s quality of air decreased as the population increased. Between 2000 and 2006, nearly

one million new residents relocated to Atlanta. “That’s like the entire population of Athens, Clark County, picking

P H O T O C

O U R T E S Y O F I S T O C K P H O T O . C O M



August 2007 | Points North 35

lung. They are not able to talk about or

notice that they are breathing badly,” said

June Dean, vice president of public affairs,

American Lung Association’s Southeast

Region, Smyrna.

When Smog Alerts, a measurement

of air quality, are highest, so are visits

to emergency rooms and admissions to

hospitals in the metro area. According to

the Georgia Conservancy, there is a 37

percent increase in asthma-related emer-

gency room visits following smog alert

days. Michael Halicki, communications

director for the Clean Air Campaign

points out the correlation between high

Smog Alert days and traffic as evidenced

by the 1996 Summer Olympics. Fearful of

the traffic congestion caused by an influx

of visitors to Atlanta, Georgians stayed

home. The result was a 22 percent drop

in traffic and a resulting 28 percent drop

in ozone, a 40 percent reduction in acute

care visits for asthma, an 11 percent drop

in asthma-related pediatric ER visits and

a 19 percent reduction in asthma-relatedhospitalizations.

“We had the weather conditions

ripe for Smog Alerts and yet we saw a

significant decrease in the number of bad

air days during that time frame simply

because people stayed home,” he said.

Air pollution, of course, also has an

environmental impact. Animal life feels

the effect of rising ozone levels, just like

humans, especially fish that cannot survive

with high levels of nitrogen, or the water-ways that are taken over by algae that

grows when levels are high (think of a dirty

fish tank). Ozone has also been shown

to weaken vegetation, making it more

susceptible to disease, pests and stress, and

can reduce agricultural yields. A loss of

crops can also hurt the state economically,

as can non-attainment restrictions on

transportation improvements.



36 Points North | August 2007

Changing Our Ways

The first form of protection is defense, which is why residents of

Georgia need to pay attention to Smog Alerts. Every day, fore-

casters review weather patterns and other factors to determine

the day’s ozone and particle pollution levels, creating the measure-

ment of air quality. Green means good, yellow is moderate, orange

means the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups, red is considered

unhealthy, and purple is very unhealthy air.

“It’s a public health issue and not just an irrelevant govern-

ment standard that people don’t need to pay attention to,” Green

said. “That’s why we do Smog Alert days, so people can know

what the forecast is and they can take actions to reduce their

exposure, particularly exercising in the later part of the day when

the smog is more concentrated, avoiding outdoor activity between

2 and 7 p.m. and fueling vehicles after 6 p.m.”

The next step is offense, and Atlanta and surrounding city

officials are working to reduce air pollutants. Mayor Shirley

Franklin is one of 238 mayors in 41 states to sign a climate change

agreement, which strives to meet or exceed the Kyoto Protocol to

reduce Global Warming pollution to pre-1990 levels by 2012, and

thusly air quality pollution, by taking action in communities.

“Atlanta’s future is bright and booming but I know that

our long-term success is directly linked to our commitment to

improving our environmental quality of life,” Franklin said.

“Atlanta has no natural boundaries — no mountains, no rivers

or coastline — so we’ve had more and more sprawl. A balancemust be struck between new development and growth, and envi-

ronmental sustainability.”

The number one way to decrease air pollution, both ozone

and particle, is to reduce transportation emissions, which is why

the State’s Clean Air Campaign promotes commuting alternatives,

such as teleworking, flexible hours to avoid heavy congestion at

peak hours, commuting, public transportation and walking and

biking to work.

“We recognize that breathing is not optional but that

commuting alone is optional for many of us, and that automobiles

contribute nearly half of the air pollution we have in the region,so motivating people to change their commuting habits can have

a dual benefit of helping us clean the air but also helping us reduce

traffic congestion,” Green said.

With power plants emitting sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides,

carbon dioxide and mercury (more than a dozen power plants are

located in Georgia), groups like the American Lung Association

are urging companies like Southern Company to clean up their

act. Less than half the power plants in the U.S. are fueled by

coal, but coal-fired boilers generate more than 88 percent of the

industry’s pollutants. Residents can also make changes to reduce

Pollution Problems



38 Points North | August 2007

power — we produce about 40,000 pounds

of carbon dioxide emissions annually, says

Pace University — by setting the thermostat

to 78 in the summer and 68 in the winter,

planting trees and shrubs around the home

to create shade and being sure windows

and doors are properly insulated. When

doing projects around the home, using

electric-powered lawn equipment is better

than gas, and hand-powered is even better.

Also, plug appliances into power strips that

can be turned off when you’re not at home,

as appliances account for 20 percent of all

home energy use — even those turned off

but still plugged in, such as clocks on DVD

players and the cable box.

“One of the things we saw in terms of

fine particle pollution was that there was

a 7 percent increase in electricity produc-

tion — a result of the growing population

and rising temperatures. We’re all going to

have to look at alternatives to transporta-

tion, and we’re going to have to conserve

energy. Businesses are going to have to

clean up pollution; diesel trucks are going

to have to clean their engines; we’re going

to have to re-examine our energy footprint.

We’re trying to conserve water but we need

to take a protective view toward our air

quality as well,” Dean said.

Of course, becoming a more involvedcitizen may mean you have to become a

bit of an environmentalist, too. Moms

can take action to protect their children

by working with schools to prevent

buses from idling at the buildings and

keeping exhaust levels down. Groups

like the American Lung Association

(www.lungusa.org ), the Georgia Conser-

vancy (www.georgiaconservancy.org )

and the Sierra Club (www.sierraclub.org )

have ways to get involved in state and localefforts.

As Franklin said, “The Hopi Indians

have a saying, ‘Together with all nations

we protect both land and life, and hold the

world in balance.’ I encourage all of you

to make a commitment and get involved,

together we can hold Atlanta in balance

so that future generations will continue to

come here to live, work, play and learn.” PN

Pollution Problems

S M O G A L E R T S

You can receive smog alerts daily via e-

mail by visiting The Clean A ir Campaign’s

Web site at www.cleanaircampaign.com.

pn 807 pollution probs in atl

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